By Rachel Jones
Professional development is a critical tool to keeping employees engaged, excited, and productive. A 2021 study revealed that 34% of surveyed workers are satisfied with the level of skills development investment received from their organization and only 56% of respondents see a meaningful opportunity for themselves in the organization. In addition, statistics show that the cost of employee turnover is up to 16% of the employee’s annual income.
Having a customized professional development program brings a multitude of benefits to your organization including…
- Empowering leaders by identifying challenges and allowing space to proactively solving them.
- Endearing employees to the organization by showing them their talents and voices are heard and valued.
- Reducing turnover through greater employee engagement and interest.
At InPursuit, we understand the characteristics that make up an adult learner. When designing our professional development, we strategically pull from a variety of adult learning theories to ensure we are implementing the techniques that best captivate and motivate our participants. We incorporate components of andragogy as well as transformative, experiential and self-directed learning. We integrate these methodologies into the framework of our curriculum, keeping the following seven best practices front and center.
- Start with why. It’s crucial that adult learners understand why they should learn something. The “why” is central to our overarching program design, as well as each topic-focused module.
- Specifically, how? In addition to the why, adults need to know how this knowledge will help them. InPursuit designs scenarios to allow participants to visualize exactly how they will apply the topic or skill to their role in their organization.
- Build Schema. Adults bring a plethora of prior knowledge and experiences to the table. We build off this existing foundation to form additional connections and new understandings.
- Flip the Script. We understand that leaders are independent and self-directed. We incorporate a “flip the script” model to allow individuals to choose their own resources and take ownership over their learning.
- Make it Relevant. Adults learn best when they can relate content to their own lives. We incorporate opportunities to actively discuss and practice skills to align tasks with reality.
- Maximize Time. Let’s face it…everyone has busy schedules! We chunk our material into comprehensible modules to make learning efficient and manageable.
- Build Community. At InPursuit, we are outcome-focused and impact-driven. We curate an environment that places authenticity, integrity and FUN above all else. We strive to ensure each participant feels included and her/his/their voice is heard, which promotes collaboration and continuous improvement.
